


Alt

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 11:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13763709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: What if Alex had gone with Louisa to rescue Anne?





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you have the keystone?” Alex asked as soon as the portal on the Secret Stone Circle glowed brightly and two figures on horseback emerged from it.

“Yep,” said Linda, holding it up for Alex to see. There wasn’t much light for it to catch, but the pink stone glowed brightly in Linda’s hand.

“Sweet!” said Alex, grinning. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get that keystone on the pedestal and go rescue our princess.”

“Well, since you’re so eager,” said Linda, holding the keystone out to Alex. Alex dismounted and walked over to Linda, holding out a trembling hand. 

“No!” said Fripp, holding his little paws up. “Louisa has to do this.”

“Why?” asked Louisa.

“Yeah, exactly, why her?” asked Alex. 

“Because Pandoria is a very dangerous place,” said Fripp.

“Gee, thanks,” said Louisa. “If it’s so dangerous, I’d rather have Alex handle it.”

“Yeah, or I could go as backup?” asked Alex.

“No,” said Fripp, shaking his head. “I would rather only have one person in Pandoria at a time. Besides, the three of you will need to stay here to help keep the portal open, as the walls between realities are very thin at the moment.”

“Alright,” said Alex with a shrug, but Louisa could see in her eyes that she was only pretending to be so okay with it. Louisa frowned as she took the keystone from Linda, then walked up to the pedestal. The Dino Valley keystone still hung there, glowing bright blue, though it was ice-cold as Louisa touched it. She shivered as she handed it to Fripp, who didn’t seem to feel the cold as much as he took the keystone. Then, taking a deep breath, Louisa carefully set the Pandorian keystone onto the pedestal. A ripple of energy spread out from it, causing the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck to rise, but the keystone simply floated there, humming softly, as the portal glowed green.

“Wow,” Louisa whispered, her heart pounding with excitement. “This is really happening.”

“Yeah, it is,” said Alex. She watched as Louisa mounted Goldmist and stepped through the portal, and then she climbed back into Tin Can’s saddle, her eyes set on the portal.

“Good luck, young Soul Rider,” said Fripp, looking at the portal. He turned back in time to see Alex charging forward on Tin Can, and Fripp ran in front of her, paws out. “Alex, stop, it’s not safe!” Tin Can simply leaped over him, landing on the stone ground and then continuing on towards the portal.

“Sorry, Fripp!” Alex called behind her. “But I have to do this.” The portal swallowed whatever Fripp said in reply, but Alex felt a thrill of excitement as she landed in the star-filled landscape.

“Well, we’re finally here,” said Tin Can into the silence. Alex nodded, expecting her breath to fog. But it didn’t.

“This is different,” said Alex, looking around. “Damn, I wish we had time to stop and look.” Tin Can swished his tail.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that Louisa will take plenty of pictures and record everything, like she always does,” said Tin Can. “Besides, you have something, or rather someone, far more beautiful to save.”

“You’re right,” said Alex with a nod and a grin. She could see Louisa a little farther ahead, so she rode ahead to meet her.

“Why am I not surprised?” said Louisa with a chuckle. Alex grinned.

“Well, I couldn’t just let you do this alone, now could I?” said Alex. “And I’ve waited years for this.” Louisa nodded, and travelled through the void with Alex until they stepped through a portal into a world that was all pink.

“Well, this is different,” said Alex once their eyes had adjusted to the pink. “The Manta rays are new, and it was never so beautiful here before.”

“It is beautiful,” said Louisa, snapping a few pictures. “What’s so scary about this place again?”

“Hey, don’t jinx it,” said Alex. Louisa smiled as they rode down a path, still amazed by everything. They had to stop a few times for burning spores and then Shadow Seekers, but finally, the two of them emerged from a cave to find a large pink crystal hanging in midair. Alex went pale for a moment before she turned and started rummaging through Louisa’s backpack.

“Hey, what are you doing?” asked Louisa, trying to turn to look at what Alex was doing.

“Looking for your pick-axe, I know it’s in here somewhere, you’re always carting it around,” said Alex. “That’s a fishing rod.” She threw it on the ground. “Good thinking, bringing your rune wand.” It landed on the ground too. “Finally!” Alex grabbed out the pick-axe and held it aloft. She turned to the crystal. “I’m coming for you, Anne.”

“I don’t think so,” said a familiar voice, and Louisa rolled her eyes. Of course it was him again. Darko, the edgiest edgelord to ever edge, stepped out of the shadows (of course) and leered at them.

“Oh, fuck off,” said Alex, pointing her palm at him and firing a blast of Soul Strike that caught him in the chest. Darko stumbled back, caught off-guard, his face paling. Then, it contorted into a snarl.

“You’ll pay for that!” Darko snapped, twirling his cane. Flames began to lick up the shaft of the cane as dark energy gathered, and-

Another bolt of Soul Strike sent the cane flying out of Darko’s hand (which he grabbed, yelping), where it clattered onto the ground. Louisa carefully rode Goldmist over to the cane, and then Goldie ‘accidentally’ nudged the cane so that it went rolling towards the side of the cliff.

“No!” Darko cried, diving after it, but it was too late. The cane dropped off of the cliff’s edge, plummeting into the pink abyss, and Darko stared mournfully after it for a few moments. But then he stood, growling, and glared at Alex.

“You may have taken my cane, but I still have some powers,” said Darko, and dark energy gathered at his fingertips.

“Listen, I don’t have time for you,” said Alex, and blasted Darko with Soul Strike. He staggered back, still glaring at her, but then his face changed to one of sheer terror as he suddenly discovered that the ground had disappeared from beneath his feet.

“No,” Darko whispered, and he actually looked terrified as he fell. He screamed for a long time, but the scream petered away after a while. 

Alex turned back to the crystal, still holding up the pick-axe. She swung it back and started to break the crystal apart, grunting with the effort of trying to break it without also breaking Anne. It was a large crystal, after all, so it took some time for the shards to break away. But at last, with one final blow of the pick-axe, Anne fell from her prison, Alex dropping the pick-axe and catching her. Pink dust coated both of them, and Alex’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the pink veins running through Anne’s skin. She looked infected.

“Oh, Anne,” Alex whispered, brushing some of her pink-streaked hair out of her eyes. She laid a gentle kiss upon Anne’s forehead, and then began the walk back through the tunnel, Anne still cradled in her arms.

At the Secret Stone Circle, Fripp was still rather miffed. Alex had gone charging in there like she usually did, and he wouldn’t be surprised at all if she ended up dead. But, just as he was about to say something, the portal glowed brightly again. He turned, his mouth open to lecture Alex, but he stopped when he saw what she held. The pink girl in her arms looked a mess, covered in pink dust and clearly suffering from the Pandorian sickness. But it was definitely Anne.

“Got her,” said Alex, her eyes burning with intensity. “I should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“Congratulations, Alex, though your methods leave much to be desired,” said Fripp. “This could have gone so much worse, and now we don’t know what your actions may have caused.”

“Hey, Darko was there, but I dealt with him,” said Alex. “And if the others come after us now, then at least we’ve got her. That’s all that matters.”


	2. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy endings are good but so is angst.

Alex frowned and fired a bolt of Soul Strike at Darko, wanting him gone so that she could rescue Anne. Darko ducked, smirking.

“You missed,” said Darko, and began twirling his cane. Alex growled in frustration, trying to blast him again. The spell bounced off of Darko’s twirling cane, ricocheting back towards Alex. Alex swore and ducked, holding the pick-axe up as a shield with no time to create one with her magic. The pick-axe went flying out of her hand, thankfully not injuring her at all, but the top of it was now nothing but melted slag. Alex’s eyes burned with rage as she turned back to Darko with a growl.

“No! You’ve really done it this time,” said Alex, her fists crackling with electricity. Her very eyes glowed white, and her hair lifted around her head with the static electricity. Louisa half-expected her to rise up like a goddess. But Alex only fired bolts of Soul Strike at Darko, tears blurring her vision and hissing as they dried too quickly, her heart breaking that she now had no way to save Anne.

And then, Alex froze. She felt horror overtake her mind as the crystalline effect of Soul Strike spread through her. It hurt, but that wasn’t the horrifying part. No, the truly horrifying part about this was that she wasn’t sure whether or not this would kill her. She’d been trying to kill Darko, but surely it wouldn’t kill its master?

While Alex was frozen, Darko began twirling his cane in a more leisurely manner, laughing.

“What now, Soul Rider?” asked Darko, advancing on Louisa, who still sat on Goldie, frozen in fear. Goldie backed up, pinning his ears. Louisa had laughed at Darko once. But that had been before she’d seen his power.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Louisa begged, tears in her eyes. “I-I’m friends with your girlfriend, Shadow, what would she think?”

“Oh, really? Then you’ll get to see her more often, won’t you?” said Darko. He slammed his flaming cane into the ground and Louisa shrieked, clearly expecting the worst. But the ground didn’t crack open and swallow her whole, a cage didn’t appear around her, Goldmist didn’t drop dead or suddenly turn dark. Instead, the sky darkened. The Manta rays vanished. And large, purple-scaled tentacles, looking draconic, rose up from the depths.

“Uh,” said Louisa.

“Time to say hello to your old friend,” said Darko, grinning, and the tentacles began to lunge at her. Louisa screamed and Goldie plunged forward at a gallop just as the Soul Strike wore off. Alex gasped, patting her chest, and swung herself up into Tin Can’s saddle, her horse having come to stand beside her for both safety and extra power. Now, she used him to catch up with Louisa.

After a terrifying race for their lives, Louisa stopped at the portal, looking back at the tentacles that still followed her. One deposited Darko in front of them, who sneered at them.

“And now, it is time for you to meet your maker,” said Darko, his fist burning with magic.

“Go,” said Alex, looking at Louisa.

“Huh?” asked Louisa, looking back at her.

“Go!” Alex repeated, pushing her towards the portal. “Go back to Fripp, tell him what happened.”

“And what about you?” asked Louisa. Alex’s hand glimmered with Soul Strike.

“I’ll be fine,” said Alex, smiling sadly. “I’ve got her.” Louisa nodded and Goldie leaped through the portal. As soon as they vanished, Alex fired Soul Strike at the portal, absorbing the blue stars and closing it so that only the pink of Pandoria remained. Then, she turned back to Darko.

“You would sacrifice yourself for her?” asked Darko. “How noble.”

“No,” said Alex. “But I’m not leaving without her.” She fired Soul Strike at him, again and again, until at last, Darko fell, plunging into the pink void with a scream. Alex rode back down to the crystal, where she stared mournfully up at Anne.

“Alex?” asked Tin Can as his rider dismounted.

“I’m never leaving you again, Anne,” said Alex, laying a hand on the pink crystals at the base and closing her eyes as she bowed her head. “I promise.”

“But the sickness,” said Anne, and Alex’s heart leaped at the sound of her voice. Energy surged through her until her eyes fell on the broken pick-axe. The sight of it sent her heart sinking to her feet.

“I don’t care,” said Alex, looking up at her through the thick pink crystal. “In sickness and in health.”

“But we’re not married yet,” said Anne softly. Alex chuckled.

“We might as well be,” said Alex. “And at least you’ll have company until someone comes back to rescue you.” In her crystal, Anne felt her spirits lift slightly. At least she had Alex here with her.


End file.
